Quarterback Chris Leak held aloft the crystal ball that goes atop the national championship trophy while confetti streamed down on the field. The Gators players giddily bounced around the locker room screaming things like, ''Who doesn't belong?''

But these moments after Florida's 41-14 victory over the previously unbeaten Buckeyes took place because of a script. And with the success Meyer has had in only two seasons at Florida, more happy endings may follow.

Florida's first two drives, both set up by personal-foul penalties on Ohio State, were flurries of offensive improvisation. They were also a result of more than 30 days of preparation.

The Florida offensive coordinator, Dan Mullen, said that of the first 12 plays Florida ran, 10 came from the script that the coaches had drawn up before the game. That seems to be a stunningly high percentage, considering that factors like down and distance are difficult to gauge.

It also offered a window into the ability of Florida to create a successful game plan; the Gators used three different quarterback on the first eight snaps. Leak, meanwhile, was masterly in exploiting mismatches as the Gators lined up in overloaded formations to exploit Ohio State's zone coverage.

Leak found speedy wide receivers lined up across from linebackers and picked apart the mismatches, starting the game by completing his first nine passes.

''That's what we wanted to do,'' Mullen said. ''We knew that they weren't going to substitute. We had to try to get them in the open field.''

What Meyer and Mullen could not script was Leak's reaction to the big-game pressure. But he displayed uncanny calm, and his 14-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Baker on the opening drive showed how he had matured the past two seasons.

''The touchdown pass yesterday on the slant and go, he hung in there as the pressure is caving in,'' Meyer said. ''We have all seen Chris curl up and fall down. He stuck it in there and made a play.''

Meyer called that 46-yard drive one of the game's turning points, answering Ted Ginn Jr.'s 93-yard return of the opening kickoff for a touchdown.

After Florida scored, Mullen said he told Leak on the sideline: ''O.K., the joke is over. Let's start the game over right now.''

After Derrick Harvey's sack forced an Ohio State punt on the next possession, Florida got the ball back on the Buckeyes' 34-yard line. As the Gators marched for another touchdown, the Florida third-string quarterback Butch Rowley said he could hear the excitement in Mullen's voice as he called plays over the headset from up in the booth.

''There's no joking around because Coach Meyer is on the headset,'' Rowley said. ''But you could tell he was getting real giddy about calling certain plays because he knew that they were going to work.''

They kept working all game. Five players scored touchdowns, two quarterbacks threw for scores and Mullen received high praise from his head coach.

Meyer said that last season Mullen perhaps became a bit too caught up in scheming and did not spend enough time coaching Leak individually. He said that changed this season, and there was plenty of evidence Monday night.

''Dan Mullen has to worry if there is one person's criticism he has to be aware of, and that's mine,'' Meyer said. ''I thought he grew up this year as a coordinator.''

Looking to next season, Meyer predicted that the new starter, Tim Tebow, would allow the Gators to run a bit more of the spread option offense that made quarterback Alex Smith a No. 1 pick in the N.F.L. draft from Meyer's Utah team.

Meyer said that the Gators' senior class next season was not nearly as dynamic as the 21 seniors on this team. Also, as many as six players, including many of the Gators' top returning defensive players, could be opting to leave early for the N.F.L.

But Florida has one of the country's top recruiting classes coming in next season, including nine who have enrolled early and started class Monday.

Among them is John Brantley, a quarterback who is the Gatorade National Player of the Year. The quarterback of the distant future arrived the same day the quarterback of the present sealed his legacy.

As for Meyer, after advocating a playoff for the championship all season, he showed little interest Tuesday in the notion that the Gators should play Boise State next week.